Katherine Ziesing | Canberra
In the wake of news that the Phase 3 of Land 400 Request for Information has been released, the program office hosted an industry briefing in Canberra on Friday last week. The day was a who’s who of Army including the Chief of Army.
Brigadier Greg McGlone, DG of the Combined Arms Fighting System (CAF), briefed media the day before the event about what they’re after with this RfI. And the answer is simple; pure information. What is out there in what form? What do we need to know? And this is the time that numbers will be gathered and crunched to ensure that the ensuing Request for Tender covers what Army needs it to in a way that industry can respond to.
And most interestingly, this RfI will be accepting partial responses from industry members that aren’t platform providers per se but may have smart technology or kit that would fit the wider aims of the Land 400 and CAF approach.
Like Phase 2 before it, there are no essential requirements at this stage. BRIG McGlone said this may or may not change by the time the RfT comes about. It will depend on the material they receive during this process.
Perhaps the only element that the program office team were relatively firm on was a desire for the vehicle to carry an eight-person section. But even this is mutable in the right solution space.
BRIG McGlone also acknowledged the long timeframe of the program as a whole and that Land 400 has the potential to shape almost every element of Army training and doctrine into the future.
The program office will be conducting a series of one-on-one meetings through until December 4, with the RfI deadline on February 22 (Merry Christmas) with respondents of course welcome to submit responses earlier.